hesperides' doom
by Saya Moonshadow
Summary: Please forgive me, for I fear I have failed you. —Atlas Flame, Natsu.


**Short piece to help myself get over writer's block. And to put in my two cents on one of the more prevalent theories about just who the hell Franmalth's most powerful stolen soul is.**

**Spoilers for the Grand Magic Games all the way up to chapter 374. If you haven't read those chapters and don't wish to be spoiled through fanfiction, please turn back now.  
**

**Disclaimer: Anything you don't recognize as canon is most likely mine unless otherwise noted. **_**Fairy Tail**_** and all related canon belong to Hiro Mashima.**

**hesperides' doom  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

"_Rally to me, Atlas Flame!"_

* * *

He is very strange, this boy who has attacked me to save his comrades.

Tiny, and runty in the way that all humans are in comparison to myself, but he roars like a dragon, and his voice is strong with conviction the likes of which I have not seen in a long time.

I care little for the affairs of humans, and even less for the cries of the ones that flee from my now, but if this boy does not stop punching me and get off of my head, then I shall roast him alive and make a snack of his corpse.

The wind changes, and I catch his scent beyond that of the world burning around me.

Familiar...so familiar...

_Igneel...?_

No - impossible! My old friend did not mind humans, certainly, but there is no way that this human child could have his scent unless he killed him. Even as far in the future as I am now, no creature, human or otherwise, could kill the King of Fire Dragons.

"I FOUND YOU, FIRE DRAGON!" this child roars at me.

How is he not being burned by my flames? He should be but a wisp of ash, a cinder, by now, and still he stands!

"Who are you?!" I make my voice known as his companions who were circling around me before stop and stare. Their magic was nothing to me, even the man who somehow used dragon magic against my form. The force of my hellfire burns away all magic.

"I'M NATSU!" the boy on my head shouts. Does he never speak normally? I know very little of humans, but this one seems abnormally loud, as if he does not know how to speak in a regular tone. "AND I'M GONNA..."

He lowers his face to my head and takes a gulp. I feel a tiny cinder leave my body as it enters his mouth.

"...EAT YOU!" he finishes, his voice distorted through the fire.

His companions react with shock at the act, but I am merely indignant. How _dare_ this boy attempt such a thing! Dragons eat humans, not the other way around! And besides that, how in the name of this planet is he not dead?!

"You are joking!" I snarl, twisting in an attempt to look at him, but he stands on my head, and I cannot see him.

"I SAID I'D EAT YOU, AND I WILL!" he shouts back, and I can feel him scooping more of my fire into his mouth.

Roaring, I slam the top of my head into the already broken ground - I am a dragon, such a thing will not harm me. But it will turn this gadfly into jelly in an instant, and I repeat the action for good measure.

His companions shout to him for assistance, but - is he still alive?!

How is this boy still alive? And how is he able to consume my fire?

As his companions leave to go aid the other humans, I resume my fury against him. "STOP IT!" I snarl, to which he gives me a petulant fist to the skull.

"NO!" he replies, still as loud as ever.

"Do not make me angry!" Enraged now, I swoop through the damaged city, intentionally hitting everything in my path - a tower, several buildings, strange horse-less carriages, other structures, but none can seem to shake this child from my body.

"A human cannot eat my flames," I tell him, still in disbelief. The magic he is using to stay unharmed must be powerful indeed, but before a dragon's might, all other magics will fall.

I will burn him to a cinder before long.

But...

_This feeling...could it be?_

_No. Impossible. _ He is a human child, very clearly of this century, four hundred years past my true time. There is no discernible way...

_But this feeling...it reminds me of..._

An old friend. My oldest and dearest friend.

The thought is daunting, and so, against my better judgment, I choose to ask him a question. If the connection is indeed there, then I, as Igneel's true friend, must know of it.

"Brat...who are you? What is your relationship with Igneel?"

"Igneel?" the boy asks. His voice is at a normal level now, I notice, as if the very mention of my old friend is enough to calm him down. "Do you know him?!"

I answer truthfully, as I always must.

"Igneel is...my dear friend, and the King of Fire Dragons."

The boy is silent for a moment, and then I practically hear his smile in his next words. "I see," he says happily. "Igneel's my dad."

Igneel has...taken on a human child?

_This_ human child, with ridiculous pink hair the color of which is not often found on even the most fantastic of animals?

But I can smell it - he smells of the noble flame of my friend, and I can hear much of Igneel's tone in his voice. It is a shock - Igneel has always told me that he does not wish to take on a human as a pupil. Not after the tragedy that occurred when others of our kind taught our sacred magic to humans so that they could defend themselves, and they began to slaughter us indiscriminately, as though we were common cattle or sheep.

The boy then asks me a question, and I must think hard before giving him my answer.

* * *

"_Old man..."_

* * *

He is very strange, this boy.

But...he is much better than the man who used magic to override my will. His question is sincere, and I hear hope and determination in his voice.

Ah, that tone...how many times have I heard it in the voice of his father?

I had never once suspected that a human might one day attempt to befriend me. But here I am, with one such human child riding on my head, and calling me his friend.

I...really must tell Igneel about this once I am home. I am sure he will be very proud of hear of his hatchling's deeds.

* * *

"_I hope to meet you again, son of Igneel..."_

* * *

"A human boy, you say...?"

"Yes. A boy with pink hair, who devoured my flames and spoke in much the same tone that you do. He even referred to me as his 'uncle'. I have never seen ought like it in my life."

"I...I see..."

"I even had to battle the old hag Motherglare in order to protect him while he battled it out with...I believe...Skiadrum's child. I do not approve of her choice in humans, my friend. Easily corrupted, that boy was. I believe your choice was much sounder."

"Hmm..."

"You seem contemplative. Is there a problem you wish to speak of?"

"I...have a favor to ask of you, Atlas Flame."

"Yes. Anything. I will do anything you ask of me."

"I ask for you to lend this child your strength and wisdom when you meet him next."

"That could be soon or never. I know not when I will meet him again. And you will have to find and train him first, many years far in the future."

"Yes...I know. But...promise me."

"Do you know something I do not?"

"I wish for your promise, Atlas Flame. Then I will tell you what you need to know."

I reach my claw out, and he allows me to take it as I make my solemn oath.

"I, Hellfire Dragon Atlas Flame, promise that I shall keep the child called Natsu Dragneel safe and provide him with my strength and my wisdom the next we meet."

I promise.

O son of Igneel...I will protect you.

* * *

"_Ice Make: Ninth Circle!"_

* * *

What is...this awful sensation I am feeling?

I feel...like I am...

I...

I cannot...think. I cannot move...

My body...my body of impenetrable flames...long gone to the ages...my spirit, all that is left...

My altar...the flame that makes up my consciousness...

I am...frozen.

There is...a...man in front...of me...is it...? It might be...him...the son of...my...

"Are you...son...?"

I can hardly speak...please...make this stop...

"It speaks!" this man says. Why is he surprised...? I am...dragon of...hellfire...I...

The horrible ice...he is forming it around me...I cannot...cannot escape.

Soon...it is closing over my face...I cannot keep my form...

He speaks again, but...I cannot...hear...

...the world is...muffled...I want...sleep...want to...sleep...

...sle...

* * *

"_It seems I made a mistake..."_

* * *

Something...has shaken me...crashed into me...

I can feel...again...

I am...awake.

But...no...something is...missing now...

What...happened to me...?

My body is...broken...almost nothing left...

The ice...is...melting...?

And...a warmth...the cold recedes...in wake of that warmth...

Please...do not let up...now...or I will...

Ah...that warmth...

_Igneel...?_

No...not my old friend...but one who is...equally important...

Dragon's fire...no wonder I am...revived...

"It's been four hundred years...O son of Igneel..."

But I...cannot remember...

My promise...I must...protect...Igneel's son...

That human who...turned the world to ice...

I must warn...must warn...of the Devil Slayer...and of...Igneel's failure...

Zeref...

Acnologia...Dragon King...that destructive human...

O Igneel...please forgive me...

I cannot keep my promise.

* * *

"_I shall set this village free..."_

* * *

"No...it can't be..."

I feel...so tired.

Why am I still alive...?

There is another consciousness within me - no, _I_ am within this other consciousness, and I...

I cannot move.

Demon...this other consciousness is a poison to me...

It is not human. Humans cannot do this to a dragon, cannot do this to me...

"U-uncle..."

The voice is familiar to me, and the thing possessing my soul allows me to look at its source.

Immeasurable grief fills my being as I realize what has happened to me, and what I am about to be forced to do. What this human child must do in order to save me.

No...I cannot be saved. I am already dead. Held here by this monster, and slowly being consumed by its greed.

My memory...I couldn't remember anything before, and now I see why. My soul...my soul was missing, stolen from me by this abomination. I feel it moving, and I have no choice but to move as it dictates, my flames spreading outward, trying to harm my nephew of sorts, his woman, and the strange blue cat they have with them.

No...I don't want to do this...I don't want my will stolen from me again...

"Forgive me, son of my dear friend...I have failed you."

* * *

**AN: The last scene is pure speculation, because the big reveal hasn't happened yet D: Soon, though...soon...**

**And, um, Mashima sure earned his nickname of "Trollshima" last week, didn't he? _Two_ cliffhangers (of a sort) in one chapter? _It just isn't done!_ I expect tomorrow's chapter will most likely be about Franmalth's mystery soul, though so we're probably going to have to wait a little longer to find out just what Gray is to Silver. SOMEDAY. I also have no idea what any of Silver's attack names might be, so I made one up. "Ninth Circle" refers to the ninth circle of Hell in Dante's _Inferno_, the fourth round of which was frozen over and housed betrayers and the like (the four most prominent examples being Satan, Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and Judas Iscariot). Hopefully we get to see some actual attacks out of him soon, because they're bound to be sick.  
**

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**


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